Salt And Sacrifice Tips: Where To Go First, Farm Guiltless Shards, And More

TL;DR

  • Prioritize Luck stat and utility artifacts to boost item discovery rates significantly
  • Systematically farm valley herbs and irona ore from environmental sources and enemy drops
  • Unlock the hidden vendor after defeating Uryks to access additional equipment and silver sources
  • Farm Guiltless Shards early to counter the Magebane Rite health debuff mechanic
  • Master dodging mechanics and strategic mage hunt selection for sustainable progression

Salt and Sacrifice presents a challenging experience for newcomers, making early guidance crucial for overcoming initial obstacles and establishing effective gameplay patterns.

As the highly anticipated sequel to Salt and Sanctuary, this 2D Souls-like adventure demands strategic thinking from the outset. Understanding core mechanics during your initial mage hunts through Altarstone Kingdom will dramatically improve your survival odds in this punishing world.

During early progression, resource scarcity becomes a significant challenge despite initial appearances. Focus your grinding efforts in Bol Gerhan specifically, as this area provides optimal experience gains and material drops relative to difficulty. To enhance farming efficiency, allocate skill points into the Luck attribute, which progressively increases your item discovery percentage. For more immediate results, actively seek utility artifacts like Engraved Box or Emerald Feather that provide substantial discovery bonuses when equipped in your Utility Artifact slot.

Enhanced item discovery dramatically improves loot quantity and quality from defeated enemies, which proves invaluable during extended mage hunts where you’ll encounter numerous foes dropping elemental crafting components. These materials enable creation of specialized armor sets and weapon upgrades, making discovery optimization essential when only named hunts are available.

Develop systematic looting habits by checking every container and corpse you encounter. Initial weapon enhancements primarily require Ashpyrs, commonly found in loot bags scattered throughout environments—often being rummaged through by enemies. For reference, explore Ashbourne Village’s leftward paths where these bags appear frequently, particularly within cave systems. These containers yield upgrade materials, currency, and consumables including Firebombs and Poison Bombs.

While gathering resources, prioritize valley herbs and irona ore above other materials. Valley herbs replenish your heathen flasks for healing and grow on crimson trees within levels. Irona ore restocks ammunition and appears in pale crystalline formations along zone boundaries and caverns. Both resources also drop from defeated enemies. Despite their apparent abundance, these materials have finite availability, necessitating consistent farming—especially before challenging boss encounters that rapidly deplete your supplies.

When discovering unfamiliar materials in new regions, visit Herbalist Shenna in Pardoner’s Vale (accessible via the southeastern path from central area). She crafts specialized decoctions—throwable items inflicting various status effects like burning or poison. These consumables require regular replenishment, reinforcing the game’s core philosophy of comprehensive collection to maintain your preferred combat tools.

Although Salt and Sacrifice provides more direction than typical Souls-likes, players may experience uncertainty about objectives during initial hours. Regularly consult Champion Hera, positioned adjacent to your Pardoner’s Vale spawn point. Beyond her primary quest guidance, explore additional dialogue options, particularly requesting rumors that identify level-appropriate mage hunts for your current progression stage.

Early gameplay reveals that Pardoner’s Vale inhabitants perform various services except commerce. The merchant must be located near Ashbourne Village. After defeating Uryks Necklace-of-Ears and obtaining the grappling hook inquisitor tool, proceed left from your Ashbourne Village starting point along the elevated route. This leads to a staircase overlooking a descent to your right. Utilize your new mobility to grapple across to a structure, traverse it, and discover the vendor on the opposite side who will relocate to Pardoner’s Vale. While crafted gear typically surpasses merchant offerings, you can vend unwanted items for additional silver.

One crucial material unavailable through environmental looting is the Guiltless Shard. This functions similarly to Humanity in Dark Souls, with specific parallels to Dark Souls 2’s Human Effigies. The Magebane Rite mechanic prevents complete death but imposes a significant debuff reducing maximum health by approximately 25%. Restoring your complete health bar requires consuming a Guiltless Shard. The mossy knight protecting the scarlet door in Root-Ceil Cavern’s depths (Ashbourne Village) occasionally drops these shards, but the most efficient farming method combines boosted item discovery with random mage hunts. While mages rarely drop shards upon defeat, their summoned minions—like the pyromancer’s flying imps—can yield them more regularly.

Understanding the distinction between weapon upgrading and scaling proves vital for long-term character development. Upgrading directly enhances base damage statistics, while scaling improves how effectively your attributes amplify weapon performance. For optimal weapon progression, balance both approaches based on your build specialization.

Mastering evasion mechanics represents one of the most critical survival skills. Perfecting dodge timing not only avoids damage but creates offensive opportunities during enemy recovery animations. This skill becomes increasingly important against late-game bosses with complex attack patterns.

New players often mistakenly pursue every available mage hunt immediately upon discovery. Instead, assess hunt difficulty relative to your current capabilities, focusing on appropriately challenging targets that provide meaningful progression without excessive frustration.

During mage hunts, survival should take precedence over aggressive play. The chaotic nature of these encounters with multiple enemy types appearing simultaneously demands cautious positioning and resource conservation. class selection significantly influences your approach to these challenging scenarios.

Implement strategic approaches to mage hunts by preparing adequate consumables, understanding enemy attack patterns, and having escape routes planned. These preparations dramatically increase success rates and reduce resource expenditure during extended hunting sessions.

Understanding the spawn mechanics of mage-summoned enemies allows for more efficient farming of specific materials. Different mage types conjure distinct minion varieties with unique drop tables, enabling targeted material acquisition for specific crafting needs.

For comprehensive strategy guidance covering all game aspects, consult our complete game guide for additional insights and advanced tactics.

Action Checklist

  • Allocate 5-10 points into Luck attribute and equip utility artifacts for item discovery
  • Farm Bol Gerhan systematically for initial resources and experience
  • Collect valley herbs from red trees and irona ore from white crystals
  • Defeat Uryks to obtain grappling hook and unlock hidden vendor
  • Farm Guiltless Shards from mossy knight or mage hunt minions

No reproduction without permission:SeeYouSoon Game Club » Salt And Sacrifice Tips: Where To Go First, Farm Guiltless Shards, And More Essential Salt and Sacrifice beginner strategies for survival, resource management, and mage hunting success